Inductiva runs the simulations, so you can run the science.
This tutorial will show you how to run OpenFAST simulations using the Inductiva API.
We will cover a quick start use case available in the OpenFAST GitHub repository to help you get started with simulations.
This use case uses the NREL 5-MW wind turbine, a hypothetical yet representative multi-MW wind turbine with a rated power of 5 MW, a rated rotor speed of 12.1 rpm, a hub height of 90 m, and a rotor diameter of 126 m. It focuses on an “onshore” version of the turbine, considering only the structure (no aerodynamics), where the top of the tower is initially displaced horizontally by 3 m from its equilibrium position.
Download the required files here and place them in a folder called MinimalExample. Then, you’ll be ready to send your simulation to the Cloud.
Here is the code required to run an OpenFAST simulation using the Inductiva API:
"""OpenFAST example."""
import inductiva
# Allocate cloud machine on Google Cloud Platform
cloud_machine = inductiva.resources.MachineGroup( \
provider="GCP",
machine_type="c2d-highcpu-2",
spot=True)
# List of commands to run
commands = ["openfast Main.fst"]
# Initialize the Simulator
openfast = inductiva.simulators.OpenFAST( \
version="4.0.2")
# Run simulation
task = openfast.run(input_dir="/Path/to/MinimalExample",
sim_config_filename="Main.fst",
commands=commands,
on=cloud_machine)
# Wait for the simulation to finish and download the results
task.wait()
cloud_machine.terminate()
task.download_outputs()
task.print_summary()
Note: Setting
spot=Trueenables the use of spot machines, which are available at substantial discounts. However, your simulation may be interrupted if the cloud provider reclaims the machine.
To adapt this script for other OpenFAST simulations, replace input_dir with the path to your OpenFAST input files and set the sim_config_filename accordingly. Be sure to specify the OpenFAST version compatible with your input files.
When the simulation is complete, we terminate the machine, download the results and print a summary of the simulation as shown below.
Task status: Success
Timeline:
Waiting for Input at 05/06, 15:03:54 0.792 s
In Queue at 05/06, 15:03:55 35.801 s
Preparing to Compute at 05/06, 15:04:30 1.356 s
In Progress at 05/06, 15:04:32 3.466 s
└> 3.344 s openfast Main.fst
Finalizing at 05/06, 15:04:35 7.559 s
Success at 05/06, 15:04:43
Data:
Size of zipped output: 40.54 KB
Size of unzipped output: 141.94 KB
Number of output files: 3
Total estimated cost (US$): 0.010058 US$
Estimated computation cost (US$): 0.000058 US$
Task orchestration fee (US$): 0.010 US$
Note: A per-run orchestration fee (0.010 US$) applies to tasks run from 01 Dec 2025, in addition to the computation costs.
Learn more about costs at: https://inductiva.ai/guides/how-it-works/basics/how-much-does-it-cost
As you can see in the "In Progress" line, the part of the timeline that represents the actual execution of the simulation, the core computation time of this simulation was approximately 3.5 seconds.